Jedi / Light Side Blue "Ghosty" Jedi Costume

That looks so cool. I'd love to try it myself someday. I have earlier versions of my Jedi costumes and this would a perfect use for them. Have you tried dying the tunic yet?

For the boots, I would consider making boot spats out of the organza and just covering them. Is there any stretch to the organza? That could make it fit better, but if they were a little loose on the leg then the organza could look nice a little crinkly and loose. If the spats fit well on the foot then they should stay put, just match the seams in the organza with seams on the boots. I'd do the same thing with the belt and pouches.

 

Greencat has chastised me for not responding sooner. For that I apologize....

To answer the questions regarding the material. The brown material is just your normal "Jedi" brown material. (Wow normal and Jedi in the same sentence...*smile*). The blue organza is not very stretchy and actually frays if not finished. It can be very slippery to work with as well so be sure to pin often.

The boot covers is an idea, but I am not sure the organza would stay put. It is so slick that it might just slip off the boots. I think my sister had an idea for the boots. She also dyed the light brown tunic fabric with a light blue dye. I purchased 2 and she will have to tell us which one she used. The result was great. It is the brown with a touch of blue. Standing alone it almost looks green, but with the robe it will work just fine.

As far as research...I looked through all of the various Star Wars books that reside in my house. Greencat has made sure all 4 kids have lots of books to read. In fact my eldest has made his way through many of the "Jedi Quest" books. But I digress... I also used the DVD of the movies to look at the "ghosty" guys. The DVD is great because we could pause the movie and look at it frame by frame. We used not only Return of the Jedi, but the Empire Strikes Back.

To get the fabric we went to the local fabric store. I knew that we needed a separate fabric for the blue halo-ish effect. We tried several by simply layering the one over the other. At first we were thinking light blue, but tried the electric blue on a whim. The electric blue is what we went with.

Does that answer the question?

 

Ooooh, that answers some questions. Thanks!

I have multiple iterations of Jedi costumes and making a blue ghostie out of one of the older ones would be a perfect use for it. But I was wondering if dying the tunic and pants light blue would be as effective as putting on a layer of organza?

Hmmmmm, I forgot what a paint organza can be to work with; I don't use it very often. I've seen organza online for $4/yard in either nylon or polyester. There is also 'mirror' and 'crystal' varieties. It looks like you have the slippery mirror type for the robe? The crystal has a shimmer effect as well but with a rougher surface and I'm thinking that this would compliment the mirror organza on the robe if used to cover boots and belt, if matching blue could be found. I'll have to look at some fabric to guess on that.

The make-up and hair are a concern. Too much pale blue and you could end up just looking dead. I wonder if there is sparkly or shimmery make-up that would work?

 

Organza is indeed a pain to work with (or so Sister tells me) She first used it a few years back to make a dress for her oldest daughter, then swore she'd never work with the material again, because its such a bother. But it was just perfect to give the blue ghostie effect. Sister is really wonderful about making me costumes!

Only the robe will have the organza.

The tunic fabric was dyed with Rit dye Evening Blue, although I only used half of the dye packet since we wanted just a touch of blue. I also put in a pair of dark brown denim pants, but the blue color just seemed to be absorbed into the brown. I dyed it again using Royal Blue and the entire packet, but it still came out looking brown. I am not happy with the results and will continue to play with it.

For the saber and the belt, I used stencil paint creme Cape Cod Blue. I 'sponged' it on with a paper towel (the better to get into all the nooks and cranies). I wanted to give the saber a blueish look, without a thick coating of blue. I did both the hilt and the blade. I think it turned out well.

For my face and the back of my hands, I'll be using blue eye shadow. A eye shadow 'paint stick' will be used to color my lips. Blue nail polish on my nails. The idea of using eyeshadow came from BonMothma, who uses green eye shadow to color her skin when she does Luminara. The photo of my hand with the blue on it isn't that great, it looks better in person.


Dyed tunic cloth

Saber

Saber

Blue hand

 

The saber looks nice. Does the paint rub off at all? I run into that problem with paints sometimes. The dye on the tunic fabric is very subtle, and the make-up, too. I hadn't really thought about eye shadow, but that sounds good. Whenever I put make-up on my hands I always have to put a layer of clear hairspray over it so I don't rub off on people around me though.

I'm not sure what can be done with the brown pants. Are they all cotton, or a blend, or something else? Synthetics don't take dye well at all. And if they're a dark brown then the color itself may be the problem. If they're dark, perhaps a layer of the organza? Since the top of the pants is under the tunic, you'd only need to make the legs.

 

For the pants, maybe you could try hair dye? I just dyed my hair a really dark blue, and even the part of my hair that wasn't bleached (which is a dark brown) ended up with a bluish tint.

 

They are cotton pants, so I think its the dark color. I may just let them be the way they are, since only a small amount of the pants actually show under the tunics and robe.

 

Well, I ordered some organza swatches from denverfabrics, so I think I am going to try the blue-ghostie thing, especially since I already have a complete Jedi costume to start from. Thanks very much for posting about this! I am seriously thinking of making an organza 'hair net' that would be held on at the hairline with clear combs, just to save the trouble of dying hair, but I'll have to try it out to see how it would work. I don't know when I would have it done, but it will be fun to experiment with.

 

As far as the hair, I'm using the spray can hair color (blue spray and silver sparkle spray) Easy on, easy off.

 

Where can you find hairspray like that? I don't know of any places that sell it around where I live. I've seen people use it and heard easy to wash out, but I'm concerned that they might not have a blue light enough for me. I have very light colored hair and any color completely changes how I look. And I'm afraid that even the lightest coating on my hair will just look blue and not ghosty at all.

 

I picked mine up at Sally Beauty Supply store (I think its a chain) Spencer Gifts and Hot Topics sometimes carry the spray. Around Halloween you can usually find it just about anywhere that sells costumes . . .

Spray on hair color works like spray on paint. For a light coat for light colored hair, just go do a few light sprays (instead of holding down the button and puting a heavy coat on).

We went with the spray on because Sister believed it gave a better 'aura' look rather than actually dyeing the hair, since it only puts color on the surface of the hair.

 

Thanks for the names! Sally Beauty Supply has a web page (though it doesn't look like they sell from the web page) and they have Rock-on Blue and Silver Glitter, so I can see what I'll be looking for. Good point about the hair spray being on top of the hair. I'll have to experiment a bit.

 

The costume is basically done and here are some pics (without makeup)

In the pics, I'm wearing a pair of blue jeans. I'm debating about wearing the jeans or the brown slacks, which didn't really dye well. Right now, I'm leaning towards the jeans. Sister said either would work.

Sister really outdid herself on the costume. Great Job and much thanks!

 

Oooooooh, it's looking very nice. Your sister does excellent work. I agree that the blue jeans look just fine with it. I didn't see any tabards with the tunic - the straight strips of fabric hanging down from the shoulders? Do you have those?

I did get fabric swatches from an online place that has light blue mirror organza as a standard stock item, so I may try this for DragonCon. If I get organized. I'm strongly leaning toward a veil over the head instead of make-up and hairspray, but I'd have to experiment.

 

Tabards . . . ummmm, there's a bit of a story there. There wasn't enough material to make the tabards,so I went to a couple of fabric stores looking for more of the original material (and then of course we would have to dye it). Would you believe I could find the fabric in just about every color except the one we needed (couldn't use a different color, of course, because it would not dye to match). This was Sunday and I'm leaving Weds morning. We decided to just skip the tabards for now (under the theory no one could really see them under the robe and the robe is what really makes the blue ghostie effect) Later, when we have more time, we'll start the hunt again for more fabric and make the tabards.


*sigh* No DragonCon for me this year. My other sister is getting married that weekend.

Please, do post your pics when you get started on your version of the ghostie costume. I'd love to see what other folks do with it.

When I get back from CIV, I'll post pics of the full costume, makeup and all.

 

Here's the pics from CIV, including make up.

Sister and I were a bit concerned folks wouldn't recognize what the costume was supposed to be and about half the folks didn't get it without a hint. The folks who did seem to instantly recognize that I was a Force ghost were the Anakins, Obi-Wans, and Sith (lol, which makes sense if one thinks about it) I did get alot of positive feedback from folks about the costume.

Now that I've worn it, I'm thinking it would help recognition if the tunic also had a bit shimmery, instead of just being light blue. Perhaps a bit of glitter? What would give it a sheen without going back and putting another layer of cloth on it?

I'm also playing around with the idea of putting on a beard and wig to look more like Old Obi-Wan. Sister hates that idea, but I think looking like one of the film ghosties would help recognition. *grin* of course I could always color a Yoda Mask (but I hate wearing a full latex mask)

 

Drat, I wish I had seen your costume in person. From the pics it looks splendid.

Don't worry about the recognizability, sometimes not being recognizable as a specific character will allow you to be able to enjoy con-going more and have to stop for pictures less.

You definitely look like you've become one with the Force.

 

That is really creative, I think it's a great idea. You looked awesome

 

You were at CIV??? Oh, now I'm embarrassed that I didn't look for you! The photos look good. Someone said that they saw a force-ghost costume, but I didn't go looking. I was at the Jedi Assembly table a bit each day.

I've just about decided that I'll try the force-ghost costume for DragonCon. I've found light blue mirror organza online that looks quite close to what I see in ROTJ. I was just going to put a layer over everything on one of my older Jedi costumes.

I would just do an 'outer robe' for the robe and tack it on (tucking the edges inside, after finishing the edges of the organza -- yowie, that stuff does shred -- I may need a big bottle of Fray-Chek, too). I would do the same for the tunic as well -- no collar, just a covering over the whole thing. The fit of both outer garments would be loose for that halo effect.

For the undertunic, I would only put organza on the sleeves and at the collar. On the sleeves, the organza would extend past the hands in a sort of mit, but there would be an opening along the seam so I could poke my hands/arms out if I need them (like going to the restroom).

The pants would only have leggings of organza for the parts that show under the tunic and over the boots. And I'm going to try making organza booties and tacking them down along the soles. I'm not sure how well that will wear. I'll also make a 'sleeve' that the belt can fit into though I'm not really sure how I will do the pouches since I like to put things into them. I'll probably glue organza over them individually.

And I'm going to try a head veil that would tuck inside (probably with a little velcro) the undertunic, but it would have to have a seam that could open so I could eat or drink.

I really could not think of a way that I liked of putting a sheen on a tunic without adding a layer. Glitter is really shiny and sparkly and that just doesn't sound like the right kind of look. I have seen shimmery fabric paint, but it goes on pretty thick. The only way to use it would be to thin it down for a light coat, but I don't know if the shimmer effect would hold up that well.

 

I saw another Blue Ghostie while I was there, but unfortunately not you. Wish I had. I still think this is an awesome costume.

 

Yeah, I saw Anakin's ghost. He didn't have anything shimmery, though. He had himself and his robes powdered blue.

 

really love the look of your robe, its perfect

 

I've been experimenting with light blue, polyester, mirror organza for this costume. It looks right for the blue shimmery effect, but YIKES! it frays like mad. If you have a serger, USE IT. A narrow, three-thread hem stops that right away. Otherwise, double fold and zigzag stitch all the edges to keep the fraying under control.

I'll cover and older Jedi costume with it and possibly use glue to attach organza over-boots to an an older pair of boots. I want something simple and easy to do beside make-up and hair color, but a blue veil flattens my hair and I want to avoid that.

 

I love the idea!! I also love you how your costume turned out! What a great idea to use the organza! it gives it just to right shimmery effect. My friend wants a Mace Windu Force-ghost costume, I may use your idea as a basis for it. That, of course, is if he ever decides which one he wants, Force-ghost or regular, Force-ghost os regular! Pretty much he's back and forth everyday! Good grief, Yoda!! (Yes, that is my own saying, feel free to use it!) Thanks for posting the great pics!

 

Well, it looks like I'm going to be wearing this costume, Blue-ghostie Jedi, for the Cantina Ball at DragonCon this weekend. I used about 12 yards of mirror blue polyester organza to put onto everything on an older Jedi costume I already have. I'm not sure how the makeup will go, but I'm already very pale to start with, so that should help. No pics yet since I'm still sewing on other costumes, but I should have some after the con. Thanks much to greencat336 for the original idea!